Relating to card-feeding apparatus



Nov. 25, 1958 J. c. DAvY rs-ru.` 2,861,804

RELATING TO CARD-FEEDING APPARATUS Filed May 8, 1956 I5 Sheets-Sheet l F/gJ.

1, I i m T La; L l; E .I \//i I @i k i if@ Nov. 25; 1958 J. c. DAvY ETAL 2,861,804

RELATING TO CARD-FEEDING APPARATUS Filed May 8, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventors Nov. 25, 1958 J. c, DAvY ET AL 2,861,804

RELATING To cARD-FEEDING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Shree?I 3 Filed May 8, 1956 rney United States Patent C) RELATING TO 4CARD-FEEDING APPARATUS John Colin Davy, Woldingham, and Wilfrid Bateman Cook Watkin, Beckenham, England, assignors t Powers-Samas Accounting Machines Limited, London, England, a British company Application May 8, 1956, Serial No. 583,417

Claims priority, application Great Britain June 3, 1955 1 Claim. (Cl. 271-54) This invention relates to card-feeding apparatus and has particular reference to apparatus for advancing a statistical record card intermittently to and from a succession of equi-spaced stations.

As is well understood in the art, it is usual to feed cards between stations by continuously rotatable feed rollers some of which are arranged to slip relative to a card while the card is arrested at a station. With this commonly employed form of mechanism, however, it is necessary that the stations be relatively widely spaced apart in order to accommodate the feeding rollers and it is also necessary to provide mechanically operated card stops to arrest the cards in position at the various stations. Further, this form of mechanism can -be employed only when the cards are all of a given length so that the feed rollers can be spaced at the opposite sides of the machine to engage the end portions of the cards where no data is recorded. In some instances, however, cards to be fed to a machine are of varying lengths, although data recorded thereon is located within a given area of the card. It is not always possible with such cards to eifect feeding by rollers because, in such instances, there is not always an edge portion which can be engaged by the feeding rollers.

It has been proposed to effect the feeding of cards to a succession of stations by means of an intermittently movable conveyor disposed above the path of the cards and having pin elements to engage in locating holes formed in the card, thereby to effect feeding movement thereof. This form of mechanism is satisfactory in operation when the locating holes are all exterior of the area in which data is recorded but, on some cards, the locating holes fall within the area of the card within which data is recorded and clearly this form of mechanism cannot be employed to effect feeding of this type of card.

It is a main object of the present invention to provide a card feeding apparatus which avoids the use of feed rollers and mechanically operated stop mechanism at the various stations and which will permit the feeding of cards irrespective of the lengths thereof or of the positions in which locating holes formed in the cards may be situated.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood, one embodiment thereof will now -be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

Fig. l is an end view, partly in section, of apparatus v 2,861,804 Patented Nov. 25, 1958 at stations 3 and 4 there are provided sensing elements SB which include wires movable lengthwise into and out of perforations 5 formed in a plate 6 supported by side frames 7 and 8.

For each of the stations 2, 3 and 4 there is provided a set of pusher elements 9, each set, as can be seen from Figs. 1 and 3, consisting of three pusher elements aligned with each other simultaneously to engage the trailing edge of a card at spaced intervals along the edge thereof, thereby to effect advancement of the card over the upper surface of the plate 6, the spacing between the three pusher elements being such that irrespective of the length of the card at least two of the pusher elements will engage it to effect said advancement of the card. The pusher elements of each set are mounted on feed bars 10 appropriated thereto, the three feed bars 10 extending lengthwise beneath the plate 6 and being supported in spaced relation at right-angles to the length of the plate for simultaneous reciprocating movement by slotted blocks 11 and 12 secured to the under side of the plate 6. The feed bars 10 each have a depending block 13 through whichpasses a drive bar 14 common to the three feed bars. The opposite ends of the drive bar 14 are located in drive rods 15, 16 slidable lengthwise in the slotted bars 11 and 12 and arranged to take the thrust from drive arms 17,18 which engage the drive bar 14 and are secured to a rocking shaft 19 pivotally mounted in the frames 7, S. Rocking movement of the drive arms 17, 18 is effected through a bridge bar 20 which connects the drive arms and to which is connected a drive link 21 carrying a cam follower 22 co-operating with a cam 23 rotatable with the continuously rotatable drive shaft 24. Springs 25 are anchored at one end to fixed anchors 26 and at the other end to plates 27, secured to the drive rods 15, 16 and these springs act to restore the feed bars and pusher elements to the starting positions thereof.

The pusher elements are each pivoted about pins 28, Fig. 2, extending from their respective feed bars 10 and each pusher element is controlled by a spring 29 which urges it through a slot extending lengthwise of plate 6 to the feeding position thereof, shown in Fig. l, in which position it is located by a fixed stop 30 carried by its feeding bar 10.

,If now it is assumed that there is a card located at each of the stations 2, 3 and 4, on forward movement of the feed bars 10, that is to the left as viewed in Fig. 2, the trailing edge of each of the cards will be engaged by a set of corresponding pusher elements; 9 on each of the feed bars and moved thereby to the next succeeding station where it will be located by the pusher elements and, during the return movement of the feed Ibars 10, as a set of pusher elements moves beneath a card located at the station from which it is to be advanced -by the set of pusher elements on the next forward movment thereof, each pusher element is rocked counter-clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 1, about its pivot 28 and, after passing beneath the card, the spring 29 restores the pusher element to the active position thereof in preparation for the next forward movement of the feed bars 10. During the return movement of the pusher elements the cards, at their respective stations, are prevented from being moved by the passage of the pusher elements thereunder because at such time the cards are retained in position at their stations by locating pins 31, forming no part of the present invention, which have been passed through locating holes formed in the cards.

Leaf springs 32, Fig. 2, are provided to press against the upper surface of a card thereby to press it against the plate 6 and to hold it in engagement with the pusher elements while the feed bars 10 are slowing down at the end of their forward stroke under control of the cam 23.

From Figs. l and 2 it will be observed that on a feed bar 10 there are provided four pusher elements, the rst three of which, considered from the left of ,FigV l, are.

arranged to advance a card in succession to, andy from stations 2, 3, and -4. The fourth pusher element lisf'arranged to remove the bottom card from` a pile'vinythe magazine 1 and deliver it tostation 2.

It Will 'be seen that by apparatus `as herein described a plurality of stations, at each of which operations can be performed on a record card, may be located very closely together, considered in the direction of movement of the cards, thus providing a very compact niachine, and cards, irrespective of their length, and the disposition of locating holes therein, can be advanced intermittently in succession through the successive stations and to an ejector .or delivery device, not shown.

We claim:

In a record card controlled machine, a lengthwise slotted plate along which cards are advanced intermittently to and from La succession of equi-spaced stations, a plurality of feed bars extending lengthwise beneath said plate and supported in spaced relation at rightangles to the length of the plate, a drive bar connecting al1 of said feed bars for simultaneous lengthwise movement thereof, drive rods connected to said drive bar, springs acting to urge the rods to a starting position thereof, a cam, means operated by said cam and connected with the drive bar to eifect movement of said rods and feed bars against the action of said springs, a plurality of pusher elements pivotally mounted on each feed bar at spaced intervals along the length of the bar, a spring urging each pusher element through a slot in said plate for engagement with the trailingk edge of a card to effect movement thereof from one station to the next, the corresponding pusher elements on the respective feed bars being disposed in alignment simultaneously to engage the trailing edge of a card and so spaced apart that irrespective of the length of a card to be moved the card will be engaged Iby at least two of the pusher elements, and leaf springs supported above .said plate and acting to press cards against the plate and into engagement with the pusher element while the feed lbars are slowing down at the end of the movement thereof under control of said cam.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,641,177 Linebaugh Sept. 6, 1927 1,763,039 Ford June 10, 1930 1,780,049 Troyer Oct. 28, 1930 2,535,853 Hermani Dec. 26, 1950 

